Uncertain history clouds status of sharks |11 July 2005

The possibility of a "shifting baseline" from which some policymakers worldwide are managing shark stocks may be a cause for concern, as even guarded exploitation of the fishery might still be chipping away at shark populations that are getting smaller and smaller, said John Nevill, a postgraduate research student from the University of Newcastle, UK. 

In recent months Mr Nevill has carried out a study-survey in Seychelles toward a Master's degree. His research has included interviews with those currently in the fishing and diving trade, along with historical records, from which he traced the origins of shark exploitation in Seychelles.

Mr Nevill outlined some of his initial findings at a presentation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently, which was attended by officials from the Seychelles Fishing Authority, environmentalists and reps from the fishing industry.

He pointed out that pre-industrial fishing by indigenous populations is rarely taken into account in modern-day scenarios. While Seychelles had no such population before early settlement, the data available shows that a combination of a targeted local fishery and industrial fishing around the Indian Ocean, thought to be from Korean longliners in the '40s and '50s, "really depleted stocks."

He found that the origin of the local shark fin trade probably dated back to 1903, but up until the halfway point of the 20th century it was shark meat, and not fins, that was the primary commodity in Seychelles.

Seychelles is currently drafting a National Plan of Action (NPOA) for sharks, and is among the first countries worldwide to do so. 

The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), at its ninth annual session last month, adopted a general ban on the practice of shark finning for its member countries, including Seychelles.

The NPOA, however, will cover in much finer detail how Seychelles would move ahead to protect future shark stocks.

According to Mr Nevill, while the economic value of sharks -- in terms of the fishing and recreational diving industries -- has become the focus in terms of conserving them, their ecological value should be considered as well.

Sharks in fewer numbers could have impacts on the food chain, all the way down to coral reefs. "All the top predators and grazers are gone from the scene," Mr Nevill said, referring to how crocodiles, dugongs, seals and the vast populations of turtles in Seychelles have disappeared, and how sharks seem to be disappearing as well.

Implementing measures to protect sharks, however, is no easy task. 

Banning the wasteful practice of shark finning -- which involves catching sharks, cutting off their fins and dumping the entire shark back out to sea -- is one measure that has already been endorsed by local authorities like the SFA and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

Mr Nevill said how the ban is enforced would warrant careful consideration.

Providing economic tools to develop a market for shark meat -- which would ideally make it viable for fishermen to land the entire shark in addition to its fins -- may not be the best solution, he pointed out, because if the meat does become more valuable, more fishermen may try to exploit sharks and the ban might not turn out to be the "conservation" measure it was meant to be, in the near-shore waters of the granitic islands.

A bigger slice of the pie for local fishermen from the lucrative shark fin trade could be one solution, however.

"If the value of fins themselves go up (for semi-industrial fishermen), that may be what makes it viable to land the whole shark," he said.

Mr Nevill told Nation his study was still not complete -- he plans to seek funding to research historical documents in Mauritius, and he also plans to speak to more Seychellois who used to be involved in the shark fishery in the 1940s-1960s.